Kickstarter pledge fatigue, scams, and stalled projects

Kickstarter and a waning crowdfunding movement

Kickstarter is the largest of the crowndfunding websites wherein inventors, artists, and the like can post videos and description of why they need financial backing, listing what they will give to people for pledging cash, and if enough people chip in and they meet the financial goal they set, they get all of the cash, but if they don’t get enough pledges, no money changes hands.

It’s a wildly popular funding option with Kickstarter projects alone raising $275 million last year, and is popular enough to have the attention of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which is reviewing what regulations they will impose on crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding seeing their share of scams

Facebook users know that they haven’t won free airline tickets just because they were tagged in a picture, email recipients know the Prince of Nigeria doesn’t really want to give them a bajillion dollars, and Vine users (as well as anyone with an internet connection) knows that pornographic material has made its way into the video service. The truth is that crowdfunding isn’t unique in being vulnerable, as the web makes it easy to scam people – it’s not like a dark alley with a creepy guy offering you Foakleys, Pravdas, or PRolexes from the back of a truck or inside of his coat.

Most projects posted on Kickstarter, Indiegogo and others are legitimate and often innovative, but as with all websites, the dark alley creeps have found their way in, and are quite convincing.

Two cases of bad crowdfunding behavior

According to Consumerist.com, one Kickstarter project is currently suspended, pending an internal investigation, as a man was selling $15 watches for $100, disguising them as “high-end” time pieces, raising $9,000 before the plug was pulled.

Recently, one Kickstarter investor sued over a Kickstarter project, as an entrepreneur who formerly designed projects took the leap into manufacturing and after what backers called endless stall tactics, Neil Singh sued for breach of contract as the simple iPad he “invested” in was never created or delivered, ultimately putting the entrepreneur and his company out of business.

These two stories are not the only cases involving questionable products being sold, or struggles with the manufacturing process leading to delays in delivery (with delivery never happening in some instances). The general attitude of people who have been backing projects from the beginning is that it is an investment which comes with risk, but others see it as a creative way to buy products, so the pledge mentality is certainly changing as crowdfunding goes mainstream.

Kickstarter in particular has been very responsive to questionable projects and products and suspends accounts for investigation rather than ignoring it. PCMech has published a useful guide on how to tell if a Kickstarter campaign is bogus.

Introducing Kickstarter fatigue

If you run in any technology or art circles, you’ve probably been solicited for pledges to various Kickstarter or Indiegogo projects ranging from “Artist X wants to make an album” or “Producer Y wants to shoot an independent film,” or even “Inventor Z wants to make a new thingamajig.” We have most certainly been inundated and rarely make any pledges in an effort to maintain objectivity as we cover Kickstarter projects, but what about the average person, or particularly the well connected person?

Sallie Wood, Creative Principal at redshoestudio tells AGBeat, “One of my talented musician friends used kickstarter to record a wonderful album of lullabies. Another was the narrator for a really cool animated film. I have lots of talented friends who all seem to have a project they want to fund. I can’t possibly give to all of them. Telling friends that you might give if only their project was more compelling is not a good idea if you want to remain friends. Who wants to judge their friends project?”

Wood added, “I have given to projects I believe in and I will probably give again but I am suffering from kickstarter fatigue. Just today I had a request via inde gogo requesting funds to send a friend’s kid to Europe for a school trip. This has gone too far.”

Crowdfunding isn’t a generic collection plate, people.

Not only is fatigue setting in, the actual projects requesting funding have gotten out of hand – one source tells us that they’ve been appalled at the projects found on crowdfunding sites as they search for gadgets or art projects, rather are met with people asking for money to build their own garden, open a second food truck, cut their thirteenth album, and even pay for their child’s summer camp or swimming lessons.

While crowdfunding is an effective alternative to traditional banking, it is unfortunately becoming some random peoples’ way to pass around a collection plate, is causing investor fatigue as they get endless requests for money, and in some cases, it’s being used by creepers’ passing of counterfeit products, or inexperienced entrepreneurs unable to ever deliver a project they intended to.

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AGBeat Chief Operating Officer: Lani, named 100 Most Influential, as well as 12 Most Influential Women in Blogging, Bashh Founder, Out and about in Austin A Lister, is a business and tech writer and startup consultant hailing from the great state of Texas in the city of Austin. As a digital native, Lani is immersed not only in advanced technologies and new media, but is also a stats nerd often buried in piles of reports. Lani is a proven leader, thoughtful speaker, and vested partner at AGBeat.

6 Comments

jesus fchrst

( February 2, 2013 )

I don’t care if KS is “flooded” with millions of useless projects (as you say), just go to Kicktraq and sort out the ones you want and don’t want. Somebody wants to send their kid to summer camp? Great, I’m not giving them any money, but hey look at that idiot woman who got “bullied” or whatever… people gave her a big stack of cash. Just because you don’t like a project doesn’t mean a thousand other people won’t.

truthandall

( March 23, 2013 )

Yeah and it just goes to show you how stupid americans are. No wonder bankers feel no shame about killing the economy, why would they if the kind of people they destroyed are the sort of idiots to give a feminist bigot money for being called out for her crap.